Ant-Man and the Wasp Will Be a Comic Book Romantic Comedy

Marvel continues to reinvent its Cinematic Universe properties into recognizable film types, the most recent being Ant-Man and the Wasp, which will be Marvel’s first romantic comedy. From the political thriller story Captain America: The Winter Soldier, to Spider-Man: Homecoming’s John Hughes like themes, audiences are drawn in by Marvel crafting sub-genres onto their films. It’s a smart move by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige to help audiences avoid superhero fatigue.

It’s also a move that’s working. Marvel’s films are critically beloved as well as loved by audiences. Making Marvel films more then just comic book movies also offers a circumvention of traditional tropes of the sub-genres as well as comic book films. From hiring Alan Taylor, a former director of Game of Thrones for the medieval battles of Thor: The Dark Worldto hiring James Gunn and his sci-fi experience for Guardians of the Galaxy, the studio follows the Marvel and Disney dictum of telling a good story first and hiring people prepared to tell it.

That makes Peyton Reed, who has the romantic comedy The Break-Up on his resume, a perfect choice to helm the MCU’s first foray into the genre. According to Kinometro, a Russian site attending the Kinorynok film event, Ant-Man and the Wasp will be the first ‘romkomom’ in the MCU according to the promotional material they were shown. That makes the film an entirely different genre template and a first for Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

Some fans were originally skeptical of the idea of Marvel adding sub-genres to their superhero properties, but time has proven that it’s an successful strategy. Captain America: The Winter Soldier grossed 714 million worldwide and led to the Russo brothers helming Captain America: Civil War and the anticipated Avengers: Infinity Warand its sequel. It’s not a huge stretch to think that Ant-Man and the Wasp could see romantic tension between stars Evangeline Lily and Paul Rudd, both of whom have been in romantic comedies before. It’s a bold gamble in some ways though. Ant-Man was billed as a heist thriller but became one of the lowest grossing films of the MCU. Jumping from one genre to another so quickly might be difficult for audiences to swallow.

Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man has had plenty of other films to develop himself as a hero, which might make audiences more malleable to a change in the genre of the film. The addition of Lily’s Hope Van Dyne – who will finally be suiting up as a hero – should also help offset any lingering doubts. Audiences will have to wait and see. Ant-Man and the Wasp stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Evangeline Lily as Hope Van Dyne, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym. They’re joined by newcomers Hannah-John Kamen as Ghost and Lawrence Fishburne as Doctor Bill Foster.